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Reversed Forecast


Nicola Barker - 1994
    Chance meetings between its cast of inimitably odd individuals—Ruby, the betting-shop cashier; violently disturbed (and disturbing) Vincent; Samantha, the would-be cabaret singer; and Little Buttercup, the never-quite-made-it greyhound—result in the unlikeliest of couples. There’s always the risk that it could all be disastrous as characters try—or don’t try—to make winning combinations. But as Ruby, the story’s soft-centered heroine, observes: “Losing, that’s the whole point of the gamble.”Dazzling, gritty, and surprising, Reversed Forecast is the uniquely entertaining first novel by Nicola Barker, previously shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize and winner of the Hawthornden Prize and IMPAC Dublin Literary Award. “Beautifully rendered—well written, clear and revelatory.” —The Times (London) “A capital fairy tale.” —The Guardian “A strange and wonderful novel.” —The Sunday Times (London) “An imaginative lowlife tale, told with acuteness and verve.” —The Literary Review Nicola Barker’s eight previous novels include Darkmans (short-listed for the 2007 Man Booker and Ondaatje prizes, and winner of the Hawthornden Prize), Wide Open (winner of the 2000 International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award), and Clear (long-listed for the Man Booker Prize in 2004). She has also written two prize-winning collections of short stories, and her work has been translated into more than twenty languages. She lives in East London.

Kill the Competition


Stephanie Bond - 2003
    Escaping to Atlanta to forget her short-lived and disastrous marriage, Belinda Hennessey is rebuilding her life with a new job and new friends, until her life is transformed forever by a traffic mishap with a gorgeous cop and the murder of a co-worker.

The Wideness of the Sea


Katie Curtis - 2017
    When she returns home to mid-coast Maine for his funeral, she faces all that she left behind when she left seven years earlier. The pain of her own mother’s death, the fractured relationships with her father, and her first love. The life she had built for herself in New York - the art world, her boyfriend, her roommate who is also her best friend - allowed her to forget the grief and hurt she had left behind in Maine. But when her uncle leaves her a surprising inheritance, if forces her to face them, and the parts of her self she’s buried. As she searches for answers about herself, and where she belongs, she discovers how people and places shape us, and how understanding, forgiveness and grace have the power to transform us and the people we love.

Marrying Missy


Sarah Elle Emm - 2011
    Tate Sullivan is in a fix: her best friend, Missy Martin, is getting married. With constant criticism from Missy Martin, Buckhead heiress and bride-to-be; stress from her intense nursing job; and a short-temper on the rise from her high powered, attorney husband, Georgia-native, Tate Sullivan is engaged in the ultimate balancing act.Tate has to cope with sleep-deprived night shifts, her closet nicotine habit, her husband's apparent workaholism, her mother's meddlesome behavior, and her ongoing attempt to educate Missy about not making borderline racist remarks about everyone who doesn't have money or look like her. When a collision with a runaway Golden Retriever lands Tate in the arms of the newcomer to Atlanta, Dr. Jackson Greenfield, Tate begins to think her mother has concocted the ultimate scheme. Wedding planning has never been so nerve-racking...or dangerous. Marrying Missy reveals the complexity of those who are merely planning a wedding, preparing for a marriage, and those who aren't sure what their marriage is-or has become. Sarah Elle Emm captures the world of wedding planning for a particular Georgia princess, but sublimely reveals all that is so often forgotten in that process-love and marriage. - the Publisher

Love On the Run


Zuri Day - 2012
    As the eldest, it's up to Michael to pave the way. If only he'd stop running from love. . .In the world of sports management, Michael Morgan is a superstar. But his newest client, Shayna Washington, may be his most lucrative catch yet. The record-breaking sprinter with the tight chocolate body has a talent and inner light Michael knows he can get the world to sit up and notice. She's definitely got his attention. But while Shayna may be physically strong, she's also vulnerable. And when a frightening chapter from her past catches up with her, Shayna needs someone to lean on. Now, it's Michael's turn to be the strong one--and suddenly the sworn bachelor finds his focus changing from races and endorsement deals to a finish line called love.Lovin' Blue is funny and bright with serious undertones and lessons big and small about the importance of accepting the past. --RT Book ReviewsThe pages of Body By Night are dripping with fire and desire. --The RAWSISTAZ ReviewersEngaging, entertaining, and just a tad bit naughty. --Rochelle Alers, National Bestselling Author

Just Between Us


Cathy Kelly - 2002
    Single mother and brilliant attorney Stella looks like a Renaissance Madonna and is about to get a second chance at love. TV soap opera writer Tara has just married the love of her life—the charming Finn—after a whirlwind six-month romance. And shy, beautiful Holly is living an enviable bohemian life, with artistic friends and a beautiful apartment where her creative talents find an outlet. Have there ever lived three more fabulous sisters? Now look more closely. The Miller girls' mother, Rose—calm, elegant, and unchanging—is about to celebrate her fortieth wedding anniversary. But as plans for the party of the decade take shape, it's revealed that nothing in the lives of Rose and her daughters is as it seems. And as the secret heartaches the four women have kept hidden from each other begin to emerge, they're set to discover whether they're strong enough to handle the truth—and whether greater happiness awaits them still.

Be Careful What You Wish For


Alexandra Potter - 2006
    Not just big stuff like world peace or a date with Brad Pitt, but little, everyday wishes, made without thinking. One day she buys some heather from a gypsy and suddenly her bad hair days stop, and a handsome American answers her ad for a housemate, and she starts seeing James.

The Queen of New Beginnings


Erica James - 2010
    After agreeing to help out a friend by shopping and cleaning for the unknown man staying at Cuckoo House, she soon becomes suspicious that her strange and obnoxiously rude client has something to hide. Clayton Miller's life is a mess. His career as one of the country's best comedy scriptwriters has stalled, and his long-term girlfriend has left him for his ex-best friend and ex-writing partner. Just when he thinks his life couldn't get any worse, he commits a spectacularly public fall from grace, and with the press hounding him, his agent banishes him to the middle of nowhere until the dust has settled. When Alice and Clayton discover the truth about each other they form an unlikely friendship—until Alice discovers Clayton has betrayed her in the worst possible way.

A Wife and a River


Sherri Schoenborn Murray - 2015
    Mae was NOT what he had in mind when he asked four elderly women to pray for him in hiring his first employee. She was just the kind of lure he didn’t need in his fishing store.

Along for the Ride


Sarah Dessen - 2009
    Ever since her parents’ divorce—or since the fighting started. Now she has the chance to spend a carefree summer with her dad and his new family in the charming beach town where they live.A job in a clothes boutique introduces Auden to the world of girls: their talk, their friendship, their crushes. She missed out on all that, too busy being the perfect daughter to her demanding mother. Then she meets Eli, an intriguing loner and a fellow insomniac who becomes her guide to the nocturnal world of the town. Together they embark on parallel quests: for Auden, to experience the carefree teenage life she’s been denied; for Eli, to come to terms with the guilt he feels for the death of a friend.In her signature pitch-perfect style, Sarah Dessen explores the hearts of two lonely people learning to connect.

Eleanor & Park


Rainbow Rowell - 2012
    “Bono met his wife in high school,” Park says.“So did Jerry Lee Lewis,” Eleanor answers.“I’m not kidding,” he says.“You should be,” she says, “we’re 16.”“What about Romeo and Juliet?”“Shallow, confused, then dead.”“I love you,” Park says.“Wherefore art thou,” Eleanor answers.“I’m not kidding,” he says.“You should be.”Set over one school year in 1986, Eleanor & Park is the story of two star-crossed misfits – smart enough to know first love almost never lasts, but brave and desperate enough to try.

Miss Me Not


Tiffany King - 2012
    Madison Hanson's past demons have given her a shadow of an existence with little hope. With the sudden tragic death of a fellow student, Madison questions her own life choices, and is now forced to evaluate everything she thought she believed in. When fate intervenes and partners her with Dean Jackson, a popular "all around good guy" from school, Madison gets a glimpse of a life that is filled with sunshine that has the power to break through the darkness she has cloaked herself in. With Dean's help, Madison discovers a desire to finally step out of the shadows, and embrace life and all its gifts.

Girl Online


Zoe Sugg - 2014
    When things go from bad to worse, her family whisks her away to New York, where she meets the gorgeous, guitar-strumming Noah. Suddenly Penny is falling in love - and capturing every moment of it on her blog.But Noah has a secret too. One that threatens to ruin Penny's cover - and her closest friendship - forever.

The One We Fell in Love With


Paige Toon - 2016
    Settle down and get married, or return to the French Alps to pursue her passion? Eliza is in love with someone who is no longer hers. In fact, he probably never was… And her dream of becoming a musician seems to be spiralling down the drain. Rose is out of a job and out of a boyfriend. To make matters worse, she’s been forced to move back in with her mother… But these very different girls have one thing in common. Angus. The one they fell in love with…

The Light We Lost


Jill Santopolo - 2017
    Was he meant to be the last?Lucy is faced with a life-altering choice. But before she can make her decision, she must start her story—their story—at the very beginning. Lucy and Gabe meet as seniors at Columbia University on a day that changes both of their lives forever. Together, they decide they want their lives to mean something, to matter. When they meet again a year later, it seems fated—perhaps they’ll find life’s meaning in each other. But then Gabe becomes a photojournalist assigned to the Middle East and Lucy pursues a career in New York. What follows is a thirteen-year journey of dreams, desires, jealousies, betrayals, and, ultimately, of love. Was it fate that brought them together? Is it choice that has kept them away? Their journey takes Lucy and Gabe continents apart, but never out of each other’s hearts.